A/N : So this is inspired by a tumblr discussion, and also I heard about an interview Fuyumi Ono would have been involved in which she said she planned Naru would-... Yeah, well, get your tissues, you may be needing those... Enjoy, I guess?
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This case had certainly been one of their most difficult ones. As always they had eventually found the precise source and solution. However, Mai and Naru had been caught off guard by the entity once they were alone. The spirit was badly targeting Mai at that moment. Naru had been thoroughly annoyed by this... He protected Mai and ended up using his psychokinesis abilities to finish it off... They were safe now. However, his irritation must have distorted his calculations, because shortly afterwards Naru collapsed. Mai caught him with difficulty but saved him from the impact. She as gently as possible let herself slide to the ground with him and laid his head gently. She tried to wake him up to avoid complications.
Naru had drawn well on his abilities, and as Mai witnessed it, she knew the situation was critical. Seeing him lying unconscious, her entire body tightened. Her lips, her throat, her lungs, her heart… Panic was growing in her but keeping her nerves, she took his hand.
"Naru! Do you hear me? Stay with me, please, keep breathing, don't you dare leave us, you can't, do you hear me? If you do squeeze my hand..."
She had no answer. She leaned an ear over his torso to hear his vitals. He was barely breathing and his heart was beating ever so slightly. She felt like he could die on her at any moment… She lifted his legs up and laid them on whatever stable enough object she found so his blood would focus on his vitals. Mai knew that was the procedure if someone was losing consciousness, she hoped this would be enough for him to get back. She did not want to imagine what would happen otherwise... Then, she tried to keep him warm and wake him up, hitting his face gently to stimulate his senses back. To make matters worse, no one knew where they were and she could not leave him here alone.
"Please! I need help!" she called in the spine-chilling silence.
Then, she felt him faintly squeeze her hand. Quickly, she got closer.
"Naru! Do you hear me?"
"...Hm...Mai?…" she heard him say, but it was so weak. She breathed in, part of her relieved. He was awake.
"I am here, it's ganna be ok," she sniffed, "we'll get help, just save your strength, I'll come with something."
He opened his eyes but it was so faint, he felt so weak. It was a miracle he arrived to open his eyelids even a little. Eyes fixed on him, Mai was under the impression that he was not really seeing anything.
"...Mai, I-..." Naru felt so exhausted, he felt like running out of time.
Mai had her eyes hanging at his lips in fear of missing what he would say. She tightened her hold on him for a bit.
"Shh, it's ok, the team is going to find us," she strongly hoped it would be not too late.
"...Thank you," he exhaled in a last breath.
Mai was confused for a few seconds and then, she saw his eyes completely shut again. Panicking, she called him.
"Naru?... Naru! What do you mean?... Naru!" Mai screamed.
She noticed he was not breathing anymore. Her vision blurred and tears rolled. She tried to dry them only to have others falling. She shook him.
"No… no, no, no! Naru! Stay with me! You cannot leave us now! You don't have the right to!" She could smell Naru's woody scent. Tears roll on her cheeks to crash on his. Mai leaned on him and checked his pulse. Nothing.
"No, Naru! Don't! You can't leave us… you can't leave me right now…" tears were falling down her cheeks anew.
Then she came back to her senses as if she had slapped herself. She could do something. She could try to revive him...
Time was precious, kneeling beside him, she put her hands together against his chest at the centre and pushed hard and fast as she remembered from what she knew. Tears still fell on him.
"Please, Naru! I need you to come back, you have a family, you can't abandon them..." she did not know if she meant his adoptive family or the one they built as SPR… Probably both. She called him again, hoping he would wake up. After a series of pushes, she stopped and listened to his chest to know if he had his pulse and breathing back or not. He did not. She resumed the pushes against his chest.
"Someone, please, help!" She had to pray for somebody to hear and come help. "Please! We need help!"
After that, she plunged on her own mind, wanting to save her breath for the CPR she had to perform.
What will your parents say? They already lost a son, you can't do this… Luella and Martin would be devastated… And what about Lin? He cares for you, we all do! Come back right now! We all need you! Please listen to me for once… please… please… please…!
While she prayed inside, she checked once more hoping he breathed, or had a pulse, anything... Nothing. Tears coated her cheeks now. She sniffed. "Breathe!"
Tilting his chin, she slightly opened his mouth, pinched his nose, took a breath in and linked her salted lips with his as she breathed out for him. Not too hard, but enough to inflate his lungs. Once. Twice. And got back to the cardiac massage.
It was not supposed to happen that way! Please come back. You'll join your brother eventually, but now's not the time. You're way too early… Please...
She was tired, because of the case, because of the situation, because of the CPR, because of the psychological pressure she had on her and her emotions. Everything was building up and taking a toll on her.
"Breathe, you idiot!" she screamed as her frustrated voice broke at the end. Her nerves were leaving her as she looked at him still unresponsive. "You may not need me but I need you! We need you. Are you that proud to make me beg you?"
I told you not to do this, why do you never listen to me? You're only listening when I'm shouting stupid thing at you like at the Yoshimi case, but whenever I'm serious and askin- begging you to come back you ignore me? Why are you always ignoring me? Why don't you listen to me now, just for now? You can hate me all you want after that and never listen to me ever again, but please… If you don't come back right now, I'll make you! I swear I'll chase you in the astral plane if I have to!
She stopped the pulses to breathe for him again. One. Two. Still nothing.
"Naruu! Please..." she whined, gritting her teeth. Despair was overwhelming her and her vision was continuously blurry. She resumed the cardiac massage as her tears soaked Naru's shirt.
I know you care! I never wanted you to die saving me to prove anything! What's the use now you silly...
She called for help again in distraught. A voice finally gets to her.
"Mai?!"
A tall silhouette appeared.
"Lin! Naru needs help, call emergency quickly!" Lin was shocked as he analysed the situation at hand. Naru was motionless under Mai and she was a mess. How long has she been doing this? He hurried and called the emergency. After that, he took over Mai to let her have a break. Emergencies arrived and took Naru to the hospital. Lin accompanied him. Mai joined the rest of SPR. Once they were all at base, she crumbled. She cried so much explaining what happened. Everyone was stunned.
Not long after, the team got to the hospital together. The case was closed anyway but they left the stuff in place as they would have to check later just in case...
When they arrived, Lin seemed not like himself. It was worse than Naru's other hospital stays. They learned he had called the Davis in London. They were coming. Doctors did everything they could. It was over...
Mai was inconsolable, Masako cried a lot too. Yasu had let out a few tears, and had remained speechless just as the other members had, all unable to realize. Shock stunned them all. It was inconceivable.
They could not imagine what pain the Davis parents were facing either. To lose a son was hard enough, but both…
Lin was stunned and felt very guilty. He had one mission: to make sure nothing tragic happened to Naru as it had been the case for his twin brother, and yet was unable to achieve… The last Davis son had eventually joined his twin. He could never forgive himself.
Later, Mai and Lin found themselves alone in the vicinity of the hospital. Mai was seated on a bench, trembling, head low, hand clenched together, trying to keep the inadvertent flashbacks out of her mind. Lin stood just behind. His hands, whose knuckles had turned white, were gripping the backrest. He could not let go of his grip or else he would probably collapse.
Strangely enough Lin finally said, "You did everything you could and you did well," trying to console her as he could but his voice was gaunt.
"It wasn't enough, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry..." she contains herself as much as she could. She was so tired of crying and she was not even the one to be pitied. "It's my fault... Again… He saved me…"
Silence passed… Lin already knew how Mai tended to take the blame on her after the Yoshimi case despite what he had said to her back then.
Mai was sniffing, head low, hardly containing her sorrow. Lin shook his head slowly.
"It's my fault, I should have been here to stop him…"
Mai clenched her fist, feeling helplessness as she, in turn, was unable to find anything to ease Lin's mind. She knew nothing would ease his pain or his feeling of guilt.
"I know it's not my place to say but…" Lin let a blank for a moment, "he may have been hard on you but he really liked you." He also wanted to remind her what he had already said, not wanting her to live with that burden, he would have to live with it but he refused to let Mai with the same terrible feelings. "As I said before, what he did, he did it knowing the possible consequences." He knew this time it wasn't actually to prove anything, or was it actually? The entity they were fighting had always been triggering Naru for some reason but he never lost his temper. At the end, Mai said it was targeting her and daring Naru to act. There surely were some pride in this again. "He's always been that way," Lin murmured.
Mai gritted her teeth to prevent crying again and pressed her hands against her eyes for another time today to prevent from crying. To no avail.
Baka! Baka! BAKA NARCISSIST!
Lin saw her crack again and remorse twinged his belly. He probably should not have said that. Two minutes ago he thought she had the right to know now but it was precisely why he was not here anymore that he should have shut it. What was he expecting? Does what he said was beneficial in any way? Most probably not, there was no use, it was done. Even though Mai could not see him unless she turned over, he turned his back and leaned against the bench as he felt his throat tighten and eyes tingle again.
Mai could not help it anymore. She stood, got around the bench and hugged Lin as much as she could, clawing at him and gritting her teeth. Lin's jaw clenched as his shirt soaked wet. Despite the sun setting, his cheeks glowed as a morning dew. Lin had awkwardly left a hand on her back without being able to rub her comfort…
Mai hated Naru for being such an idiot, she hated herself for being such an incapable idiot. And she hated life for being so unfair. Why?
It was so unfair! Naru was the one to give her everything; a job, a family… she quickly grew to love him, and he… died! He really was an idiot, at least just as much as her. It hurt so much. She could not breath with how she was shaken by her sobs.
He would never know her true feelings as they never brought back the topic after long ago when he asked her which twin she loved. They would never ghost hunt together again. She would never see his straight and O so handsome face. She would never hear his deep and smooth voice. And… she would never make him tea again.
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A/N : Well... Please, don't be mad at me, it was painful to write also...
Just so you know, this may have other chapters that most probably would be about how each SPR character deals with this and how it turns out for them.
That being said, I'll not fix any delays for updates. If it occurs, it can be any time like in the following months or later… I know it's not very cool but that's what I choose for this particular fic. First, it's just so I don't panic about updating this one when I have a few other ideas I would like to write in the meantime. Second, because it seems I tend to write only angst these days, so I may need to escape with more joyful works so I don't completely loose my mind Lmao
Anyway, if you're interested, keep an eye around!
See you soon! ;)